Locomotive spark eliminator



Dec. 19, 1933. H. H. uRBAcH Er AL LOCOMOTIVE SPARK ELIMINATOR Filed July16. 1932 3 v l.. Ilm. HIHQIIH T 4 lili /I /O Q j 2,

@WM @Mam/Wan Patented Dec. 19,

LOCOMOTIVE YSPARK ELIMINATOR Henry H. Urbach and Harry A. Bell, Lincoin,

Nebr., assignors of one-thirdy to Wilson Engineering Corporation, acorporation of Delaware Application July 16, 1932. Serial No. 622,896

YClaims. (Ci. 230-97) This invention pertains to 'apparatus forfacilitating the cooling of cinders or sparks issuing from locomotivesinto and through their smokestacks. i

5 With certain grades of coal a strong tendency exists for large andred-hot cinders to be carried through the boiler tubes and expelled fromthe smokestacks of the locomotives whence they may then fall to theground so red-hot asto cause roadside fires. To avoid this evil it hasbeen proposed heretofore to deiiect as many of the live sparks aspossible, to collect themY in they may not have suflicient mass afteremergin g from the smokestack to retain enough heat to be the cause ofroadside fires. However, such systems also have their disadvantages, oneof them being that whenever excessive pulverization occurs the very finedust produced thereby nds its way into the coaches and sleeping cars ofthe trains and increases the diiiiculty and expense in keeping suchcoaches and cars suitable for service. Another disadvantage connectedwith the pulverizing of the cinders lies in the fact that the cinderscause rapid wear on the :metal parts which produce their pulverizaticn,Vhence such equipment oftentimes needs to be replaced after short periodsof use.

This invention aims to make it possible to cool the cindersAsufficiently before they emerge from the stack so that they may notoccasion roadside Y fires and yet without pulverizing the cinders.

Thus in accordance with this invention it is an object to procuresufficient cooling of the cinders without causing any serious wear onthe parts required to produce this cooling effect. Other objects andadvantages of this invention will be more readily understood from aperusal of this specification.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a central vertical sectional view of a boilerequipped in accordance with this invennon', and

Fig. 2 isa plan section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Y

Referring now to the drawing, the front end Vo!! the boiler forwardly ofthe tube sheet 1 con- 51 sists generally of the front barrel portion 2having an outer stack 3 and an inner stack 4 for the exhaust of theproducts of combustion. The usual' steam jet 5 mounted directly belowthe stack is of course connected to receive the exhaust from thecylinders, but the connection'is 60 not herewi h shown as it is too wellknown in this art to vrequire description. The steam jet extendsupwardly through a horizontal plate 6 which extends across the bottom ofthe barrel and is joined thereto at the lines 7 and 8` shown in Fig. 652. A verticaily extended wail generally indicated as 9 having arearwardly bent portion l0 to accommodate the curvature of the nearbysmokestack and its apron ll prevents the products of combustion issuingfrom the boiler tubes 12 and 70 13 from owing forwardly in any directionexcepting 'downwardly beneath the horizontal plate 6.

The gases thus deflected by the vertical wall 9 and the horizontal plate6 must iiow to the for- 75 ward end of the'boiler shell and thence arein- Y duced to flow upwardly through the curved passage 14 until theyemerge through the aperture at the rearward end of said passage inproximity to the inner stack 4. In the preferred embodiment this passage'is formed between two walls 15 and 16 which extend generally parallelto each other transversely to the longitudinal axis of the boiler andbetween two vertical walls 1'? and 18 which enclose the 85 sides of thepassage. As the curved passage progresses upwardly andrearwardly of thestack, we prefer to have one of its sidewalls depart from the plane ofthewail l?.A and be curvedl as is the wall 19 inwardly'toward the stack,se that the gases which emerge from the aperture Vnear the stack betweenthe curved vertical wall 19 and the yextremities of the top walls 15 and16 lmay be given a rolling swirling motion and cast downwardly about thestack upon the top of the Yplate 6 and into the semi-cylindrical spaceformed on A the surface ci the wall 15, from which spaces the Ypassage14 between the walls 17 and 18 and the periphery ci" the boiler shellvertical walls 22 and Y23 likewise are provided, these latter wallscooperating with the partition 2l to prevent any Ygases which may notenter the passage 14 but may surround it fom nding their way into thestack. While some gases `may thus escape up into the 1-1'0 space abovereferred to, these gases will merely eddy around in the space, cool andintermingle to some extent with fresher gases entering the passage 14,thus contributing to the cooling of the cinders as is desired.

We have found that any cinders which tend to fall directly below theentrance of the passage 14' will ybe swept up by the 'escaping gases anddischarged through the passage 14 and stack 4. Hence no harmfulaccumulation of the cinders occurs in a locomotive equipped inaccordance with this invention.

We have found that the long tortuous passage herein provided gives ampletime for the cinders to be cooled sufciently so that after emerging fromthe stack they will not cause roadside lires. f

However, in their travel through these passages the swirling motionimparted tothem is not of a character which causes the cinders to grindon the walls and become to any considerable extent pulverized. .Thus noharmful amount of dust is produced. I

kWhile the curved wall 19 is preferred for ythe rather corkscrew motionit imparts to the gases flowing from the passage 14, yet in some casesit vmay be omitted if desired and the sidewalls of the passage lll madeparallel from end to end.

V'The upstanding collar 24 whichsurrounds the outlet of the steam jet isprovided for the purpose of discouraging cinders from sliding from thetop of the plate 6 into the steam jet whenever the engine is coasting.However, due to the violent eddying of the gases after they emerge fromthe passage 14, cinders will not accumulate to any considerable extentin the space around the stack, although there may be a few stray cinderslying .abmt' To permit installation of this equipment it is notnecessary to change existing nozzle stands or stack locations. The smokebox itself requires no altering. There is no interference Vwith otheraccessories such as the feed water heater, the superheater header, frontend' throttle, etc. Wherever thisl invention is installed the wholefront end can be inspected without removal lof any'parts Having rshownand described this invention, we claim: f

A1. In combination with a locomotive', walls positioned in the front endof the boiler arranged f or deecting gases issuing from the boiler tubespast and out of communication with the exhaust steamrjet and smokestackforwardly thereof, and additional walls constructed to provide a smoothcurved passage for conducting said gases from a point `forwardly Yof thestack thence upwardly abovethe space between the outlet of the exhauststeam jet and the smokestack thence downwardly into said space.

2. In combination with a locomotive, means for guiding and conductinggases issuing from the boiler tubes past and forwardly of and out ofcommunication with the exhaust steam jet and the smokestack, and meansfor `receiving said gases forwardly of the stack and for conducting themupwardly well above the bottom of the stack thence rearwardly anddownwardly into proximity and in communication with the bottom open endof the stack above the steam jet.

3 fIn combination with a locomotive, walls forming a baffle forobstructing direct communication between the exit ends of the locomotivelues and the space between the exhaust steam jet and the bottom of thelocomotive stack, and imperforate walls connected with the first saidwalls provided for guiding the gases and for leading them forwardly tothe frontend ofthe locomotive beyond the stack thence curving rearwardlyand upwardly abovethe bottom of the stack and thence downwardly into thespace between the bottom of the stack and the top of the exhaust steamjet.

4. In ycombination with a locomotive, baffling means between the exitends of the boiler' flues andthe space between the bottom end ofthestack and the top of the exhaust steam Vj'et for deflecting the ue gasesdownwardly and .forwardly past the steam jet, and imperforate baiflingwalls for conducting the ue Agases upwardly, thence rearwardly'higherthan the bottom of the stack and returning them downwardly surroundingthe stack toward its lower operi end into the space between said openend and the top of the steam jet.

5. In combinationwith a locomotive, an upright wall between the exitends of the flueand the smokestack andexhaust steam jet terminating.lower than the top` of the steam jet but above the bottom` of the boilershell, a horizontal wall extending from the bottom of the rst saidv wallforwardly past said steam jet, and wallsfree from irregularobstructions` constructedv toprovide a smooth curving flue passageupwardly from the forward bottom portion of the boiler shell 'andrearwardly to a region higher than the bottom of the stack and abovesaid horizontaly wall, said walls cooperating to deliver the flue gasesfrom said passage into an enlarged space forwardly of the upright walland subject to the ejecting action of said steam jet.

HENRY H. URBACH. HARRY A. BELL]

